Northland transgender couple tells story of transition at NZ Fringe show in Wellington

Northland trans couple Willow and Ren Lunicke will bring their autobiographical show She + They to the NZ Fringe festival in Wellington. Photo / Supplied

An autobiographical, dramatic, and comedic depiction of a Northland transgender couple transitioning in rural New Zealand is debuting at the New Zealand Fringe festival in Wellington this March.

She + They is a live Q&A show by trans couple Willow (She) and Ren (They) Lunicke living in the rural outskirts of Whangārei who give a genre-bending exclusive about love, transition, and regional New Zealand.

The show is a window into the ordinary, extraordinary, and surprising discoveries encountered by a transgender couple with a personal, non-political account of a life, love, and hormonal gender transition.

With a provincial life, Willow and Ren are mildly "small-town famous".

Already a long-term couple, their relationship takes an exciting new direction when each simultaneously begin their journeys into gender affirming hormone therapy.

While welcoming physical changes, unexpected shifts in their internal worlds have a seismic impact on the way they each relate to cis (not trans) men and women, themselves, and each other.

She + They will come up to Northland in April. Photo / Supplied

In this honest storytelling show, the couple offer insights into their journey through a year on hormones together with sketch humour and grace.

Month by month, both share the exciting and humbling changes of becoming more themselves, while traversing the gap between testosterone and oestrogen.

Willow and Ren tell the surprising joys and heartbreaks of re-mapping their way to loving themselves and loving one another, all over again.

Ren has been awarded for dramatic storytelling and comedy for previous works, including the Artistic Risk Award 2016, Bravest Show Award 2018 and received nominations for the Fringe World Comedy Award 2016, the NZ Fringe Development Award 2018 and more.

She + They is Ren's fifth autobiographical show and their first collaboration with partner Willow.

Hosted by Aunty Dana's Op Shop who support Gender Minorities Aotearoa just on the heels of Wellington Pride, this timely premiere invites audiences of all ages.

She + They will run from March 17–21 in Wellington. Tickets are available on fringe.co.nz/show/43782. To submit questions for the show, arrive early.

The pair will bring the show to Northland in April.